Mr. Simon Milner, Vice President Public Policy APAC of Facebook calls on the Foreign Minister

The Foreign Minister welcomed Mr. Milner to his first ever visit to Pakistan. FM Qureshi lauded the role of Facebook for development and progress of e-commerce in Pakistan, its contributions in facilitating people to people contacts across the globe and for spreading awareness among the masses.

Foreign Minister Qureshi further underscored that the use of social media presents us with both opportunities & challenges. He opined that his government firmly believed in the right to freedom of expression. However, it cannot be used to propagate hate and extremist ideologies. He emphasized that it should not be used to hurt the sentiments of adherents of any religion. All efforts must be aimed at preventing the spread of this content through social media that leads to hatred and intolerance. He highlighted the Indian clamp down on internet and social media in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir which was serving to conceal the facts of brutal suppression by the forces of occupation.

Vice President Simon Milner stated that Facebook remained cognizant of its social responsibility and expressed his desire to work with the government of Pakistan to make efforts in addressing concerns about the use of social media for spreading hateful, provocative and extremist views.